Video rental store closing

After 28 years, Homeside Video on Jubilee Road is closing its doors and selling its movies.

While the rise in online movies has resulted in the closure of some video rental chains across North America, store owner Marsuk Friesen said it was not a factor in her decision to close her store.

Friesen, who bought Homeside Video in 2009, is the fourth owner of the business. Over the years, she has enjoyed a steady business, despite the rise of online video streaming services.

Instead, her decision to close the store came because she was also running another business in Vancouver. Managing both became too difficult.

“People think this is a dying business, but that’s not the reality,” she said.

Each weekend, staff at the store saw plenty of customers. For those living in outlying areas, where high-speed internet is not good enough for online streaming, video rentals were the only option for a movie evening.

The building location, in Summerland’s downtown, was on a desirable piece of land. When Friesen put the business up for sale, the building was sold within 24 hours.

The video store had more than 12,000 titles in stock, including a large selection of older and classic movies, including titles not easily available elsewhere.

Friesen said online services provide a good selection of more recent titles rather than older movies.

The store has been selling its movies and games. The sale will continue until March 11, when the store will close permanently.

JOHN ARENDT
DISCUSSING VIDEOS
Gail Guenther, left, an employee at Homeside Video and Marsuk Friesen, owner of the video rental store discuss some of their favourite movies. The store is closing after 28 years in business.